Describe the following three features of the Timeline: the Layers section, the Frames section, and the ability to change its appearance.

What will be an ideal response?

Layers section: Layers let you build depth and dimension into a project. In the Timeline, layers are arranged in a stack as they appear on the Stage, from front to back: The layer at the top of the stack is in front in the movie, and the layer at the bottom of the stack is in back in the movie. In the Timeline, the layers correspond to their appearance on the Stage. The Timeline offers several ways to manipulate layers. For existing layers, you can use buttons at the top of the layers section to show or hide a layer, lock it from editing, or display it as an outline. At the bottom of the layers section are buttons to add and delete layers or create a folder, where you can move related layers. Flash projects can become complex, and folders can be a useful organizing tool for your layers, just as they are with file management on your computer.

Frames section: You use frames to create animation; you create different effects by using different frame types, which you'll learn more about in a later unit. Each frame is a snapshot in time of an event on the Stage. Time in Flash is measured in frames, known as a frame rate, or frames per second -fps. You can view the status of a movie -the current frame, frame rate, and total elapsed time up to the selected frame -using indicators at the bottom of the Timeline. The playhead shows the current frame playing in the movie. You can manually drag the playhead in the Timeline to play a group of frames on the Stage, in a process known as scrubbing. When creating animation, it is often beneficial to view a group of frames repeatedly to focus on the action. You can click the Loop button , select the frames you want to view, press [Enter] (Win) or [return] (Mac) to preview the selected framespan, then click the Loop button again to deselect looping.

Changing appearance: You can modify the Timeline as you can other panels: You can undock, move, resize, or close it. You can also adjust your view of frames by clicking the Panel menu button and selecting a frame size.